The Christmas Shoes
by daylightvampire
Summary: Contest entry for Roxypony's contest. Rated T for language. By the way, don't be alarmed if you see this on Deviant art because I have an account there. :p On a side note, there is a link to the music video on my profile for all your viewing pleasures!


A/N: Sorry again about I have not updated in a while, I want to give this to you guys to tie you down until I can get the next chapters up. I am entering this into Roxypony's contest. I hope you like it. :D

On another note, this story was based off of the song "The Christmas Shoes". There will be mentions of character death. Geez, I can't lay of the tragedy can I? XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Cirque Du Freak or any of the characters. I also don't own the song "The Christmas Shoes" in which this story was based off of. The narrator will is really nobody but you can place yourself in the story if you want. There is also a movie with this as well, I don't own it either.

"The Christmas Shoes"

It was nearly a week before Christmas and to tell you the truth, I was a far cry away from being the Chrismas spirit. I was standing in a line that I could have sworn was longer than the Great Wall of China and to make matters worse, I was at the tail end of it.

Things were looking up, however, because I was just one store away from from being done with my Christmas shopping. All I had to do was go into the store, go to the toy department and get my kid brother a Star Wars action figure, go the the clothing department and get my sister a new dress, and finally go to the shoe department and get my grandmother a new pair of dress shoes. Easy right? WRONG!

The place was a madhouse and was filled to the brim with Christmas commercialism. After fighting my way through the crowd with two plastic light sabers (courtesy of the Star Wars section of the toy department), I was able to get the stupid doll and make my way over to the clothing department.

I was at the dress rack when I felt something push past me. I looked down to see a little boy probably no more than 10 years old. He looked at me with big green eyes and said in a small but hurried voice "Sorry ma'am, I'm just in a hurry"

I smiled down at him. I just couldn't get angry at a child.

"It's alright little..." I paused for him to tell me his name. He caught on quite quickly and he held out his hand for me to shake.

"Darren. Darren Crepsley"

"Well Darren, it's a pleasure to meet you but I have to go back to browsing for dresses for my sister"

"Okay" He said and took off in a hurry.

Just then, I smacked myself in the face. I forgot to tell him what my name was. Oh well, no time for politness I guess.

*15 minutes later*

After I was done picking out the dress, I headed over to my last destination: the shoe department. Once there, I immediatly saw the shoes my grandma longed for. What's the problem? Well, for starters, another woman was reaching for them. What did I do to "persuade" her to take another pair? You could say that I simply dashed foreward like a bat of hell and "ninja kicked" her across the store while yelling "NOT A CHANCE IN HELL LADY!"

I was thoroughly amazed that the security were not coming after me but who cares I was almost home free. I walked up to the line at the cash register. It was not as long as the last one but still a pretty good size. I adjusted the items in my arms so that I could hold them easier. Then I looked at the person in from of me and to my utter shock, I saw that it was Darren. He was fidgeting and looked like he was ready to explode from the anxiety. It was only then did I realize that his clothes were worn and old and that he was dirty from head to toe. He had light brown hair that was matted and looked like it hadn't been cut in a while. Darren was holding something to his chest that looked like a shoe box.

I was so focused on Darren that I nearly had a heart attack when the cash register let out a 'ding' sound. The person in front of Darren grabbed their bags and walked out the door. What was to come next would change my outlook on Christmas.

Darren stepped up to the counter and looked at the clerk with his big eyes while handing him the box. The clerk opened it to reveal a pair of black high heals with two fake rubies on them. When Darren opened his mouth, I couldn't believe what I heard him say.

"Sir I wanna buy these shoes. They're for my momma please. It's nearly Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size"

The clerk smiled and typed in the item's number. Poor Darren looked like more and more anxiety was building up inside him.

"Could you hurry sir?" He asked and then added with a choked sob, "Daddy says there's not much time"

With that, the clerk looked at him alarmed and so did most of the people in the line.

"You see, she's been sick for quite awhile and I know these shoes will make her smile. I want her to look beutiful...if she meets Jesus tonight"

After this was said, a woman behind me put her hand to her mouth with a gasp. Once the clerk recovered, he said "Alright son, that will be $15"

Darren took out a worn out wallet and dumped a $10 bill onto the counter along with a pile of pennies. They counted the pennies for what seemed like years until the last penny was counted and the clerk said the amount under his breath.

"$3"

It wasn't enough.

The clerk looked at Darren and said with a sigh,

"I'm sorry son but there's not enough here"

Darren searched his pockets frantically but to no avail. He looked up at the clerk and cried

"Momma always made Christmas good at our house even thought most years she just did without. Please tell me sir, what am I going to do? Somehow I've gotta buy her these Christmas shoes."

Without a moment's hesitation, I layed the money down. I just had to help him out. Darren whirled around and his eyes widened when he saw me. I just smiled down at him with tears in my eyes and said, "Here, take it"

I will never, not in a million years, forget the look on his face when he ran over to me and hugged me. When he pulled away from me, he had tears running down his cheeks.

"Momma's gonna look so great!" Without a second to lose, Darren thanked me and ran out with the shoes. After that, everything was a blur. All I could remember was getting into my car and thinking about how God must have sent that little boy to remind me what Christmas is all about.

Darren's words replayed in my head over and over again until I arrived at my house. Once I was through the front door and hid the gifts from sight, I went up to my mother who was reading a book by the Christmas tree and gave her a hug. She looked at me with a confused look and I said to her in a near choked voice,

"You won't believe what just happened to me..."

*Inside a run down house* (Note: the point of view has changed to 3rd person)

Larten and Arra Crepsley were sitting at the kitchen table talking.

"I don't know how long I can keep going Larten. The only thing keeping me going is you and Darren but that can only help for so long..." She broke out into a fit of coughing. Larten leaped foreward and held her close. Once she was done coughing, Arra cursed and growled

"Damnit, I used to be able to take you out with a single swing of my staff and now I'm redused to a worthless body"

"Do not talk like that! You are still strong as a wolf." Larten himself was close to tears, "Just please think of me and Darren, we cannot live without you"

Arra smiled at that "Larten, you are making yourself and Darren sound weak. You are strong as well and think of our little pup. Remember the time when he first struck you down with my staff when he was just seven years old?"

"He must get it from my side" Larten huffed playfully. Arra smacked him upside the head,

"You mean MY side of the family"  
Just then, Darren walked in the door and ran up to his mother and father with the shoe box. Once he caught his breath, Darren handed the box to his mother with a smile. Arra opened the box and gasped. She took the pair of shoes out of the box and examined them closer. Darren hugged his mother as she overcame her shock.

Arra smiled brightly and kissed Darren on the forehead. Larten stood next to them with a smile on his face.

"Thank you Darren, they're beutiful"

As the fire blazed in the fireplace, the small family cuddled together with love and comfort temporarly forgeting about their troubles.

The End

A/N: God, I cried while writing this. It's a sad song and movie.

Yes, that's right. I made Arra and Larten Darren's mother and father. Thank you for reading but please leave a review. :D


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